What changed in legal AI, and what it means for your firm
A weekday digest, practical guides and data for lawyers at small and mid-size firms. Every claim links to its source.
- Clio brings its products under one login and adds a built-in phone system that logs calls as time
- Clio reports the largest one-year rise in billable time in its Legal Trends Report's history
- Nearly half of small firms bill purely by the hour, says 8am data from more than 60,000 firms
- AI hallucination case tracker reaches 2,262 decisions, with new U.S. rulings against lawyers in late October
- Everlaw announces Omni, an agentic investigation suite, plus no-cost review Workflows
- Legora raises $550 million at an $8.8 billion valuation and says in-house teams are over 40% of new customers
- Harvey buys Aida, its fifth acquisition this year, to help each firm build its own ontology
Read the full issue, with what each item means for your firm
Guides
All guides- ABA Formal Opinion 512 explained: what the ABA says about lawyers using generative AI
ABA Formal Opinion 512 says lawyers may use generative AI if they meet existing duties: competence, confidentiality, communication, candor, supervision, fees.
- How to avoid AI-hallucinated citations in court filings
Lawyers file fake AI citations when nobody pulls and reads each authority before signing. Courts fine, reprimand, disqualify and refer them to the bar.
- How to bill for AI-assisted legal work: hourly time, flat fees, tool costs and disclosure
Bill hourly clients only for time actually spent, treat most AI subscriptions as overhead, and explain any AI charge to the client before you bill it.
- What should a law firm's generative AI policy cover?
A firm AI policy should cover approved tools, client data, verification, court filings, client communication, billing and training, per ABA Opinion 512.
- How many lawyers use AI? Legal AI adoption statistics, reconciled
Surveys put legal AI adoption anywhere from about 18% to 85%. The gap comes from what each one asks, who answers and when. Here is each figure in context.